ESCONDIDO: Vigil remembers man gunned down on Sunday

Eight members of the Victory Outreach church stood in a circle
Friday evening around a makeshift memorial for Hector Javier Cruz
Sanchez.

Dozens of candles lit their faces with an uneven glow on an
Escondido street corner near where Cruz Sanchez, 19, was fatally
shot and four others were wounded Sunday night.

The group at the vigil started to pray quietly at first, then
the appeal reached a crescendo. Everyone cried out, their outspoken
thoughts and fears melting together in a cacophony of emotion,
asking God why, and for healing, and for strength.

"We're trying to bring peace," said Carlos Aguilera, a Victory
Outreach member who helped set up the event.

Aguilera said he had been shot at in a drive-by shooting when he
was younger.

"Hopefully we get to minister to a lot of his friends who are
growing up in this neighborhood," he said. "We could get them to
release that anger or help them to cope with it."

All five of Sunday's victims were in a car that stopped near the
corner of 13th Avenue and Maple Street and tried to approach
someone they thought they knew, Lt. Bob Benton of the Escondido
Police Department said Tuesday. When they approached, the person on
the street started shooting.

Two 16-year-old boys, a 17-year-old girl, and a 28-year-old
woman were wounded.

The shooter, who fled on foot, was described as a Latino man in
his early 20s wearing a dark hooded jacket, Benton said.

Police are still looking into the possibility that the shooting
may have been gang-related.

Some reports indicated that Cruz Sanchez, who was on the
passenger side closest to the shooter, may have tried to shield
other passengers, but investigators said there is no evidence that
is the case.

Family and friends remembered Cruz Sanchez as a popular, funny
guy who loved the Chargers.

"I just know him as a respectful guy," said Cesar Rodriguez, 17,
who attended San Pasqual High School with him.

Cruz Sanchez's cousin, Selia Lopez, 16, said he loved to be with
his large family and play with his younger cousins.

"People shouldn't assume that he's a gangster and that's why it
happened to him," said Lopez, adding that her cousin was never in a
gang. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact
Detective Miguel Ramirez at 760-839-4925 or Crime Stoppers'
anonymous tip line at 888-580-TIPS.